Teams Shortlisted for the Surrey Organics Biofuel Processing Facility

February 25, 2014

SURREY – The City of Surrey reached a critical milestone today with the announcement of the three qualified teams shortlisted to participate in the next stage of the competitive selection process to deliver the Surrey Biofuel Processing Facility project.

Once the facility is operational, Surrey will be home to the first closed-loop fully-integrated organics waste management system in North America; the facility will convert residential kitchen and yard waste into renewable fuel that will be used to power the city’s natural gas waste trucks.

“Surrey’s commitment to sustainability includes a vision of a city that uses innovative, best practices to reduce its waste to a bare minimum,” says City of Surrey Mayor, Dianne Watts. “The construction of the Biofuel Facility is the final step in our closed loop system that is the first in North America.”

“It is exciting to see the Biofuel Facility project moving forward,” says Surrey Councillor, Bruce Hayne, Chair of Surrey’s Environmental Sustainability Advisory Committee. “Surrey is the most rapidly growing city in the region, and with the implementation of this technology we are working toward our goal of ensuring that Surrey is prepared for the increased demands on our city resources in the years to come.”

Of the 11 teams that responded to the Request for Qualifications (RFQ), three teams have been invited to move forward to the Request for Proposals (RFP) stage:

• Iris Solutions
• Plenary Harvest Surrey
• Urbaser S.A.

Following the RFP process, the City expects to select a preferred proponent team by the fall and finalize an agreement by late 2014. Construction is expected to get underway in early 2015 and the facility will be operational by late 2016.

The City’s approach to developing this facility is via a public-private-partnership model where the City’s future partner will be responsible to finance the estimated $60 million dollar project as well as design, build, operate and maintain the facility via a long-term agreement. As an added financial benefit, the Government of Canada has agreed to contribute up to $16.9 million of the capital costs of the project through its “Public Private Partnerships Canada” fund.

This project is part of Surrey’s Rethink Waste program that was launched in October 2012, which includes curbside organics collection and an entire fleet of compressed natural gas waste collection trucks. The program has already led to a 43 per cent reduction in garbage sent to the landfill. The sum of these measures is aimed to create a cleaner city, placing Surrey at the global forefront of sustainable waste management practices.